Water Pump Rebuild Services

[GTS Dean]

What about plain old glass bead blasting? Just tape off the machine finished surfaces beforehand.

[dave6666]

That's oxidation. Neither soap nor solvents will clean it off. I also don't recommend acids either. Mechanically cleaning with abrasives is best. Like walnut shells or other abrasives that have been mentioned. Believe it or not tho... try soaking it in catsup. Not joking. Yes catsup is acidic, but it's way different than using actual acid.

https://www.getsetclean.in/in/en/flo...aluminium.html

[Robertk]

been using muriatic acid on aluminum for many years and if you don't just leave on the aluminum or magnesium long it will resurface the metal nicely, every piece of aluminum on these bikes has been cleaned with muriatic acid, the YZ is almost 40 years old from San Diego and had its share of oxidation, all links, suspension, triple clamps, etc have been resurfaced with muriatic acid... even the entire cylinder head and then rinsed with water and red scotchbrite. you can also try an over cleaner which is a caustic acid that may work or vinegar which is the acid in the ketchup.IMG_20210613_162943753.jpg

[dave6666]

Caustic acid? Dude. Just stop with the pseudo chemistry knowledge LMAO.

Caustic is the OPPOSITE of acid. You don't combine them in a sentence for some super duper power statement. Caustic is alkaline with a pH range of 7 to 14. Acid has a pH range from 7 to 0.

Guess what else caustic does? Or high pH alkaline solutions do? They dissolve aluminum. You don't want anything high pH near aluminum.

Nice bike tho.

[Robertk]

My apologies on my chemistry... I just meant caustic as in "corrosive" but I have been using both on aluminum for many years, both my Vipers factory Gen 2 wheels were completely stripped of the factory clear with nothing but "Easy Off" and rinsed with water, never polished and look like high polished aluminum, frankly the best DIY way to remove "anodized finish" is oven cleaner... done with this conversation tho.
and thanks

[lisekplx]

I sent my pump to flowkooler for rebuild, was also SOL in trying to buy one. Going to replace thermostat, hoses and the long overdue coolant flush while at it.

[98RedGTS]

Quick update here. I tried Ketchup and my wife was pretty sure I had gone crazy. It diffidently cleaned the part up pretty well but didn't put a dent in the oxidation/staining. I also took it with me to my dad's house over the weekend and used his blaster with crushed walnut shells. That also didn't do anything with the staining. I was going to leave good enough alone but I also know it will bug me every time I open the hood so I'm going to hit it with a light dusting of some aluminum paint once the weather allows (humidity has been out of control in central Texas lately). Appreciated the advice and will post up another update once I get my pump back and with any luck I'll have my gaskets too about the same time.

[steve911]

I was waiting to read the results your previous attempts before I made my suggestion.

Back in my Corvair days, I would wash the heads and block halves in the dishwasher with a double dose of dishwasher soap after the degreasing process. (Make sure your wife is gone).
It did a great job mostly then I took a stainless steel wire brush and went lightly over the parts to make them even better.

I may have an NOS housing too. I will check.

[98RedGTS]

OCD got the best of me so I hit it with some aluminum paint after my sand blasting attempts failed using the walnut shells. De-greased it real good and then masked off the hose mating surface to keep that raw aluminum. I'll probably sand a bit more at the hose section to clean it up more as well. Real happy with how the gasket surface came out too.

housing 1.jpghousing 2.jpg

[Lunchbox]

I need to do this also, just pulled off my thermostat housing to replace the t-stat and ended up running into the broken bolt fiasco that many do. Almost finished with repairing that, but the t-stat housing is a god awful mess.

Waiting to see how the pump rebuild turns out. I'll probably be doing the same here also on this as i've got the heads off currently and have had temp issues at high rpms. I've also got an 01 which fits the bill

[My98RT10]

OCD got the best of me so I hit it with some aluminum paint after my sand blasting attempts failed using the walnut shells. De-greased it real good and then masked off the hose mating surface to keep that raw aluminum. I'll probably sand a bit more at the hose section to clean it up more as well. Real happy with how the gasket surface came out too.

housing 1.jpghousing 2.jpg

That does look amazing! I am just wondering, if the paint will hold up with the temperature the housing is exposed to...? Is it a special type of paint or is it normal paint in the color of aluminum? Can you maybe share some more details on the paint you use? Many thanks!

[98RedGTS]

The paint should hold up. It's rated for up to 550 degrees and is specifically designed for engine parts. It's intended use is for the block, heads, intake manifolds and water pumps. If it doesn't hold up I'm going to assume it would be due to user error vs the product used. With that said, worst case it doesn't hold up and I'll sand blast it again to clean off all the old paint and live with the stained piece.

Here is what I used.

paint.jpg

[My98RT10]

The paint should hold up. It's rated for up to 550 degrees and is specifically designed for engine parts. It's intended use is for the block, heads, intake manifolds and water pumps. If it doesn't hold up I'm going to assume it would be due to user error vs the product used. With that said, worst case it doesn't hold up and I'll sand blast it again to clean off all the old paint and live with the stained piece.

Here is what I used.

paint.jpg

Thanks! Well, then I guess it should last

[98RedGTS]

Just an update here that I heard from the company and they are anticipating my pump should be ready to ship back in another week or two. Really looking forward to getting this car back on the road!

[lisekplx]

Same here man, lady said mine was getting tested. I really hope I’m not disappointed when that thing comes back. FYI ipsco added w/p pulleys to their website if you want to change it for a billet one.

[My98RT10]

... FYI ipsco added w/p pulleys to their website if you want to change it for a billet one.

Thanks for the hint! Hope they will put up a picture of it, too...

[Fatboy 18]

I checked the IPSCO sites and yes, I did find the Water pump pulley (which fits on the front of the pump) But did not find an internal impeller (which is what this thread is supposed to be about). So I would like lisekplx to confirm which pulley he is talking about. the Billet water pump pulley which the serpentine belt runs around has been available for years on the IPSCO site.

[lisekplx]

Yea to clarify , only the front pulley is available. When I was ordering other pulleys about 2 weeks ago, Mark told me he just added the w/p pulley that day.

[dave6666]

I might have to send them a couple pumps. Sounds like this is going well enough to dive in on the action. What is the fee for their service on these pumps as compared to new?

[lisekplx]

I was told $299 for the rebuild , plus s/h.

[lisekplx]

They only rebuild, I’ve looked all over for a new pump , prices varied from $200 to $280 (mopar), but they all were out of stock and unknown on whether they had corrected the impeller issue .

[98RedGTS]

I might have to send them a couple pumps. Sounds like this is going well enough to dive in on the action. What is the fee for their service on these pumps as compared to new?

Honestly, I'd wait a bit longer so that lisekplx and I get ours back so we can post about the quality of the rebuild. Obviously we wont know how long it will last by looking at it but we can spot obvious things like how well they level the gasket surfaces and the overall quality of the impeller. Being the guinea pig was kind of the plan here but I know of at least half a dozen people that have sent their pumps off now since this thread started so I'm really hopeful the quality is as good as other car forum reviews. I know rebuilding a water pump isn't exactly rocket science but it does take some attention to detail to get it right.

As far as New Mopar vs rebuild. I 100% went this way as I wanted the metal impeller. It's supposed to be higher flowing as well but I really didn't care about that part. I just wanted piece of mind that I didn't need to worry about the shaft giving out on the impeller. I've heard the Cardone rebuild units tend to do that as well as the old Mopar units thus this rebuild option triggering my interest.

[GTS Dean]

If a reputable rebuilder will step up to the plate and tool up for this, they'll get a high percentage of the reman business from us.

[dave6666]

I have a lot of pumps. One or 2 gone won't be a problem to me.

[98RedGTS]

lisekplx - Have you gotten your water pump?

Just an update here. Still no pump and every time I get in touch with them I'm told a couple more days. Starting to wonder if I'm going to get it back at this point as it's been over 2 months now. I hope it's as good as advertised but my desires to recommend the service is gradually fading.

Also, now that I started ripping the car apart I've now come to realize their are two different thermostat housings and with my luck I bought the wrong one. Mine has a hose coming off the top of it where this one does not so, if anyone needs it I'll let it go for what I have in it of $50+ actual shipping. If anyone has the other style housing laying around please let me know as I may be interested in buying it. picture of the one I want below.

engine.jpg